Champ Car eyeing neat upgrades for new car
"It's been fantastic," said Cotman. "Everyone seems to like it. We are now in a great position to engineer into the car some neat things. We are open to all ideas. For example, where do we place the camera mounting points? One neat place might be right under the raised nose. The beauty is we have plenty of time to do all the really neat things we always wanted to do but never could."
As for the new transmission manufacturer, "We are close," said Cotman. "We don't need any more than six forward gears because our turbo engine has a fairly wide power band."
On the topic of engine horsepower, Cotman was confident Cosworth will find more power.
"I think we'll have more horsepower with around 39 inches of boost and more push-to-pass horsepower, contingent on Cosworth maintaining the longevity we currently enjoy."
As for carbon fiber brakes, "I'm not opposed to them said Cotman. "We're still evaluating them. They might be cheaper because the teams are going through two and three sets of steel rotors and pads a race weekend. At $4,000 per set the costs add up quickly." And he agreed they can play with braking distances with brake pad hardness (coefficient of friction). Harder brakes pads would increase the braking distances. The cars will be lighter and faster, which means they will approach the corner faster, but that's offset by the fact you have a lighter car to slow down.